After most neck surgeries it is recommended that you wear a neck collar. This specialty neck collars holds your neck stable after a neck fusion surgery. Read more about what Ms.Palmer used here. What to Use after Neck Surgery.

I am sure you have heard of the MyPillow Pillow. Yep probably on late night tv or one of the financial tv stations. Well just in the last month of October, Mypillow reached a 1 million dollar settlement after lawyers accused the pillow company of false advertising. Read More Here:

Are You Waking Up with A Stiff Neck? Natural Treatments to Get Rid of the Neck Pain ...

So you wake up in the morning, ready to conquer the day, and BAM, you cannot turn your head and neck to the right side.

Brushing your teeth, taking a shower, making the bed, making breakfast- all of these tasks are excruciating...and then driving to work. This happens to me once in a while so i decided to write a lens on how to treat a stiff neck without popping pain medications. This squidoo lens shows you how and gives you some great at-home things you can yourself. We'll talk about what causes a stiff neck and what you can do to prevent it and treat it.

What Can You Do To Help Your Stiff Neck?

Rx for A Stiff Neck: Treatments that work to to combat a stiff neck....whether at work or at home.

A hot pack that feels comfortable Looking for a hot and cold pack that will give you good coverage for heat therapy? Check this one out. This hot and cold pack gives you effective coverage for your neck and upper back and shoulders. The dimensions of this hot and cold pack are 9x16 so its ample big and gives you great cold therapy (just stick it in the fridge) or heat therapy ( just microvave it for a few minutes).

Sleep with good neck posture at night

Using a supportive Neck Pillow at Night Can Prevent a Stiff Neck

There are many supportive neck pillows on the market today. Your goal when sleeping is to ensure that your head and neck are aligned during sleep. Imagine taking a towel and rolling it up in a cylinder (see YouTube Video Below). Your neck has a natural "C"curve that should be maintained during sleep. You can do that with a cervical support neck pillow as the linear gravity neck pillow by Arc4life.com.Arc4life's linear gravity support neck pillow comes in 3 different sizes:

Small- 20"x15"

Medium- 24"x17"

Large- 28"x17"

Some people think that because they sleep on a king size bed, they should use a king size pillow. This is a big NO-NO ! Imagine a small female 5"2 in height using a pillow that is king size. That is grounds for neck pain and a stiff neck the next morning. So choose your cervical support pillow based on your height, weight and what your preferences are. The linear gravity neck pillow allows you to get the right size pillow for your neck, to prevent a stiff neck the next morning.

A note about choosing a pillow to sleep on.

Using the wrong pillow at night can cause a stiff neck. Not getting enough support in your neck can cause the muscles in your neck and upper back to tightness up and spasm. Choose the size of your pillow based on your height and weight.

A Cost Effective Neck Stretcher to Help Take Away the Aches and Pains

Great for Neck Pain, Stiff Neck and Muscle Spasms

The Soothe A Ciser Neck Traction System: Neck and Shoulder Relaxer
The Soothe-a-Ciser Stretcher Works to Stretch your neck and Shoulder Muscles. Imagine someone holding your neck and giving you gentle stretch. There are many benefits to using this traction device:

the Soothe-a-ciser cradles your neck at the base of your skull

helps to release muscle tension and tightness in the neck, shoulders and jaw

helps to restore the normal curve in the neck

use for 10-15 minutes / day a few times a week for pain relief and stretching

great for chronic neck pain

great for headaches especially migraine and tension

How to Create A Towel Roll for Neck Support

Prevent a Stiff Neck, have good neck alignment with using this support pillow

Dr. Bellinger, Chiropractor in Glastonbury Connecticut shows us how to create a neck support with a towel roll. Effective form of neck support and neck pain relief.

Do Gentle Traction to Stretch Your Neck

Stretch your neck after you are feeling better from your stiff neck...

After you start feeling a little better, a little gentle neck traction can be helpful and give you some pain relief. Traction basically means stretching your neck. Stretching your cervical spine ligaments and muscles. Someone can do that for you- they can just pull your head longitudinally. But you can also use a device such as a pronex or a cervical traction posture pump 1000. If you have been suffering from a stiff neck, you want to make sure you are not in ACUTE PAIN. This is after the acute pain- gently stretching your neck can yield some pain relief. Before and after stretching , you can also use a hot pack (6x20 works well on your neck) on your neck for 10-15 minutes for added comfort.

The Best Neck Pillow for Neck Pain, Headaches, Arm or Hand Pain...

Have you ever awoken up with pain on the one side of the neck? Maybe you had tingling into your fingers. Or Numbness into your arm?
Are you tossing and turning all night because your pillow loses shape and does not give your neck the support that it needs?
Do you continually get headaches?
Do you wake up with a stiff neck?
Imagine being able to function early in the morning without pain and stiffness.To be able to work on the computer with no headaches. Imagine being ale to sleep through the night. In this arc4life blog post, we are going to talk about a pillow that works for all of the above. It is called the arc4ife cervical traction neck pillow, and it has a lot offer.

Do I use this Arc4life Cervical Traction Neck Pillow?

My personal recommendation

Surprisingly, I did not start using this pillow until 2 years ago. I was one of those people who propped up their neck pillow at night. Finally, I woke up one day with a stiff neck, and decided to try a different pillow. I started using the traction pillow. I use the support or roll side, because for me that is the most comfortable. I am mainly a side sleeper, but i sometimes sleep on my back as well. This neck pillow works to decrease stiffness and achiness in my neck. I even take it on vacation with me. Even my sisters love this pillow when they come visit me. They ask for the V Pillow every time they sleep over ! - Nav

But that's just my viewpoint about this pillow. I have compiled frequently asked questions about this traction pillow in this special blog post. It is not your average neck pillow. I will talk about why the contours of this neck pillow are important for your neck curve, and how it can help you feel better when you wake up. Most importantly, it will help you wake up pain free.

Update 8/13/2012 I am still using the arc4life cervical traction neck pillow. In fact I cannot sleep without it. My husband has his, I have mine now. He even knows whose is whose- even though its the same pillow, and same pillowcase LOL !! Still using the support side- great for when i sleep on my side and on my back.

For what neck pain problems would someone want to use this traction pillow

Not Just for Neck Pain

Acute neck pain- neck pain that started all of a sudden

Chronic neck pain- neck pain that has been going on for some time

Stiff neck

Herniated disc in the neck

Bulging disc in the neck

Numbness and tingling in the hands or the arms

Weakness in the arms or the hands

Degeneration in the cervical spine

Arthritis in the neck

Loss of curvature in the neck spine aka. Military spine

Whiplash in the neck from a car accident or other injury

Reversal of the Neck Curve

Occipital Neuralgia

Tension, and migraine headaches

Cervical spondylosis

Poor Neck Posture

Neck Pain when turning to one side

Fibromyalgia

Shooting Pains into The Extremities

Do you have a pillow that you have used for stiff neck, numbness and tingling, headache, or neck pain?

Which Neck Pillow do you Use for Neck Pain Relief?

Arc4life cervical traction neck pillow

Foam Pillow

Foam Pillow

Water Pillow

Fiber Pillow

Buckwheat pillow

Side Sleeper pillow

Feather Pillow

contoured pillow

Another pillow not mentioned above

Why do We Need A Neck Pillow?

Is a neck pillow necessary in the first place? Why not sleep simply on the mattress?

A good neck pillow can help you resolve your neck pain issues. The key is that you need to take pressure off of the nerves, and keep those nerves free of pressure. What you need is optimal alignment of the neck? What does this mean? Our spines are designed with specific curvatures to keep the nerves in the best neck alignment, free from any unwanted pressure. Also your body can withstand the forces of gravity pushing down on you. In this way, you are able to withstand from normal activities.

Your Posture Tells a Bigger Story

Posture is really a window into your spine..its tells us a lot

Posture is the window to your spine Just by looking at somebody's posture, you get a hint of what their spinal alignment may be. For example lets say someone has a head that appears to be shifted forward of the shoulders.We actually call this forward head carriage. As you might guess, this spine cannot withstand downward pressure than the spine compared to one that is in correct spinal alignment. For every inch that the head is shifted forward, it increases the downward pressure on the head by 10 additional pounds.

Use the Traction Pillow to Correct This Posture and Relieve Nerve Pressure

Component #1 NECK ROLL

The first component of the neck traction pillow that makes it ideal is the NECK ROLL. The neck roll helps to restore your normal alignment. Normal neck alignment is the c curvature of the cervical spine. The neck roll does precisiously that when you lie on your back. It helps to restore or maintain the normal curvature.

Open up the space between the bones of the spine

Component #2 NECK TRACTION

The next component of the traction neck pillow is the v pattern on the pillow itself. This is what sets this apart from regular pillows.The V gives gentle traction to your neck. The traction helps to relieve nerve pressure by slightly stretching the spine in the vertical direction.

Two Pillows In One - The Cervical Traction Pillow Is Two Pillows In One

Listen and See what Dr. Bellinger says about the arc4life cervical traction neck pillow, and why he recommends this neck pillow to all of his patients.

What if I am a Side Sleeper?

You can Sleep on your Side or On Your back with this pillow. It accommodates both sleeping positions.

you can sleep on your side or on your back with this pillow This is a great question. Looking at our spine from the side we have smooth flowing curvatures. Looking from the front or back, we should be straight up and down.That being said, when you are laying on your side, you want a pillow that keeps your head level. Think of your pillow that completely compresses after a few hours of sleep? What does your head do? Your head completely tilts towards the bed. This can put a 45 degree angle in your spine. Is this good? NO ! If done night after night you start developing misalignments in your spine and posture.

Too much Pillow is also a Problem...

Propping your head up with too many pillows can be very comfortable.

This does the exact opposite. It cranks your head in the other direction towards the ceiling. We are now 45 degrees to the other side. We are dealing with the same problem. Poor alignment and posture equates to pressure on nerves. The pressure on the nerves will equal various symptoms:

Pain

Headaches

Numbness and tingling

Weakness in the upper extremity and more.

As is not Enough Pillow: Flat Pillows offer minimal neck support

No pillow= no support for your neck.

Using no pillow or a flat pillow is not the answer either. No pillows means no support for your cervical neck spine. The Proper C Curve is not supported. This can mean neck pain, headaches, and an restless uncomfortable sleep.

How long with this pillow last for?

It depends, for some people a few months, for some a few years.

One of the sacrifices that we make with our pillow is that it may not last as long as other fiber pillows on the market such as the Tri core support pillow. The tri core pillow is also a contoured pillow, but with much more stuffing and higher density. This means that the pillow is really firm to sleep on. Does it last longer (prob a good 4-5 years): yes, but the extra stuffing does not make it a usuable pillow. The traction pillow on the other hand, has some give to it, and is not filled with as much fiber. It is made to be comfortable for you and still give you the effectiveness of the traction. We know that by stuffng the pillow a little less, we are sacrificing the shelf life of the pillow. But then if we stuff it too much, our customers are not able to use it for conditions such as bulging disc, degernerative disc or herniated disc.

Can I use this contoured neck pillow the whole night?

It depends on the individuals neck pain condition. Also, on your sensitivity level.

Each person's neck pain is different. For some patients,they lay on the pillow, and are able to use it the whole night with not problem. There are 2 ways to get used to using the arc4life cervical traction neck pillow:

Start using the neck pillow little by little
For others, who for example have acute neck pain or have a lot of sensitivity in the neck- they may have to use the pillow little by little. Start by using the pillow one half hour to an hour the first night. If the pillow starts to get uncomfortable, change back to the regular pillow you have been using. Keep increasing the amount of time you are using the pillow

Start by using the Neck roll side of the pillow
As I mentioned above, there are two components to the arc4life cervical traction neck pillow. The neck roll side is softer and easier to get used to. If you have a lot of sensitivity in the neck, the traction pillow may be too much for your right in the beginning.

Military Neck? Doing Neck Traction at Home

How to do A Neck Traction Protocol at Home if You don't have the Cervical Neck Curve.

Have you ever been diagnosed with "military neck"? It basically means that your neck curve is straight and not the proper c curve that it should be. It is also known as loss of cervical lordosis or having a hypolordotic curve in the neck spine (loss of the cervical curve, the spine may not be completely straight but there is a loss of curve there. This military neck is often diagnosed by the Chiropractor looking at a lateral cervical x-ray (an x-ray of your neck from the side).

One way to work on this military neck is by doing neck traction at home. You can many different types of traction units, but my recommendation is the pronex traction unit because it will help to get the c-curve back into the neck.

When people think of "traction" a excruciating image of an over the door thingy-ma-jiggy is conjured up and more pain is felt just thinking about it. Today I want to show you how simple it is to do neck traction at home with the revolutionary Pronex Pneumatic Traction Unit- the cadillac of traction units!!!! The pronex traction unit is available at www.arc4life.com and also at the Neck Pain Relief Shop. Email us at Arc4life on Squidoo if you have any more questions about the Pronex Traction Unit.

What is Military Neck in the Spine?

Understanding what it means to have A curve in your neck spine...

A military neck basically refers to having a straightening of the cervical curve in the neck spine. Normally, one should have a "C" when you look at the cervical spine in a lateral neck x-ray.
If you look at the side profile of a person's neck x-ray, you see the red line that can be drawn through the bones of the neck spine. You can visualize how the curve is no longer there. That is called a military neck.

What does a Normal Neck Curve Look Like?

Lets look at the Neck in a little more depth.

Well its supposed to look like the letter "C". Look at a normal neck x-ray here. The Neck Spine is composed of 7 vertebrae:

Is it Easy to Do Neck Traction at Home?

Glastonbury Chiropractor Shows Step by Step How to do Neck Traction At Home

Dr. Matt Bellinger has a chiropractic office in Glastonbury Connecticut, zip code 06033. He specializes in pain relief for the neck, midback and the lower back. He uses this neck traction unit in his Glastonbury OFFICE. Here he demonstrates how to use the pronex traction unit. Check out his GlastonburyChiro Blog Here.

Normal and Abnormal Neck Alignment: The Five Things You Must Do to Correct Neck Alignment

Let me start off by describing what correct neck alignment is. Ideal alignment is having your neck straight up and down when looking at your posture from the front or back. When looking from the side you should have a smoothing flowing C-curvature. This squidoo lens will showcase for you what a normal and abnormal neck curve look like on x-ray.

See the Person's X-ray on the Left ?- that looks like a pretty good neck curve, good neck alignment. Notice the backwards "C" line that is drawn on the x-ray? It has something to do with that. Keep reading for more information about neck alignment and having it the best you can get.

What Are the Ways that One's Neck Alignment Can Be Out of Whack?

Everyday activities can be a cause of bad neck alignment.

A Motor vehicle accident that caused a whiplash in your neck

Constant sitting on the computer

Talking on the phone for many hours a day, with your head cocked to the side

A sports injury: basketball, rugby, lacrosse

Having bad neck posture while on your computer, or tablet

Carrying a Heavy Backpack

Texting on Your Cell Phone

Being in One Position for a Long Time

Stiff Neck

Using Your Tablet Computer for long periods of time

Driving for long periods

How does one Determine What the Neck Curve Looks Like?

By having a neck x-ray. Specifically a lateral cervical neck x-ray. This is an x-ray from the side of your neck. Also, another good x-ray to look at is called the AP cervical x-ray: from the anterior and posterior (from the front and from the back). These two views will give you a good indication of your neck alignment. You have to know what your neck alignment is before you can start correcting it.

On the lateral neck picture above one can draw a line along the backs of all of the vertical bodies. This is what should look like a "C".

What Does a Normal Neck Curve Look Like? Check Out the Normal Neck Curve on X-ray.

Here is a normal neck curve. This person is standing on their side, looking to the right. Notice the #1-7 labeled on the x-ray. Those represent the 7 bones in the cervical spine: C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7.In terms of alignment,Notice next that the there is a backwards "C" that we could draw on the x-ray to show off the curve. If you cannot visualize the "C" look at the top of this lens.

The Curve in the neck measures 42 degrees. Similar to the C Shape of a banana.
Having a normal neck curve is important for proper motion in the cervical spine. Flexion, Extension, Lateral flexion and rotation are all motions that the cervical spine does. Range of motion and function can be affected when the normal c curve is not intact. See below.

What does Loss of the Cervical Curve Look like?

Loss of the neck curve to where the curve has straightened out

Okay here is another person looking to the right. Notice there is no Curve in this person's cervical curve. It is straight up and down. In fact you could probably take a ruler and draw a straight line down the bones of the neck. In fact you may even have a reversal of the normal curvature; you can see it between segments C4-6. This is known as Military Neck and loss of cervical lordosis, cervical kyphosis or straightening of the cervical spine. To See what happens with this cervical kyphosis continues, look at the x-ray below.

Going in the Other Direction: Cervical Kyphosis

Progression of Loss of the neck curve to where the curve has reversed
Here is another neck x-ray that shows that the neck curve can go in the other direction too. So this neck curve was normal at one point, then straightened out, and then kept going in the other direction. Cervical kyphosis can progress to the point where the curve in the neck actually reverses.

In this x-ray where the curve has turned from the backward C into a regular C. Not Good. Imagine taking the banana and reversing its curve. That is painful just to think about.

Notice also the bone spurs that have grown at levels: C5 and C6. Notice also that the disc space between C5 and C6 has decreased.

So you want to Correct Your Neck Alignment.

Let look at 5 things you can do right now that will affect your neck curve.

It is easy to get into bad habits of neck posture that can cause neck pain, and stiff neck. The Great thing is that you can do something about it.

Get your spine adjusted. See Your Local Chiropractor for a Proper Adjustment of the Spine You may have guessed, you need to visit your chiropractor. I put this one as number one because your chiropractor may also contribute to you doing the next four things on the list better. Also, he or she may recommend x-rays for the neck; this is the best way to see exact alignment. You really only need two, a lateral picture and an AP picture (one from the side, one picture from the front or back). See above x-ray pictures.

Postural Exercises. Put your neck and back into the Right Posture These are what I call mirror image exercises. They are easy to do; the key is to be consistent. For example, one of the most common misalignments is forward head posture. This is when the head shifts forward of where is really should be. The exercise for this is called head retractions where you "retract" your head back, hold, and repeat.

Neck Traction. Stretch Your Spine Traction is extremely important because when posture and alignment have been crooked over a long period, ligaments and muscles tend to shorten or be constantly tension-ed depending on the misalignment. We need to stretch those areas back out to allow correction. What we have found to stretch ligaments is that your everyday stretches won't do the trick. What you need is a sustained stretch over a long period of time. The posture pump 1000 is a great traction unit to use at home.

Be aware of your posture. Are you Slouching During the Day? What exactly do I mean? Well, every day we have stressors or do certain things that can affect our postures negatively. A common example I see with patients are ones that drive a lot of hours for work, or especially lately ones that lose multiple hours at the computer. With these activities your head eventually starts to creep forward (forward head posture). Being aware allows one to say, "Let me take a break for a minute". Just getting up, moving around, and doing a couple of neck stretches makes a huge difference.

Maintain the Work that You have Done. Don't go in the Opposite Direction of the Neck Curve Every day there will be work to do with your head down for hours, or long drives, or a lot of time spent looking down at you iPhone, etc. Doing our list of correction techniques is vital to correct as well as maintain your neck alignment. Continue to do your neck traction, use the arc4life traction pillow at night and continue with the postural exercises that you have been prescribed. Maintaining good neck posture is as important as correcting it in the first place.